The Tale Of Two Lovers
by Shachiecoh Hime
Summary: He's a prince and she's a commoner. Two people from such diffent worlds apart. What will happen when they touch each others heart? Read and find out.
1. And it started once upon a time

**The Tale of Two Lovers**

**Author's Notes: **Hurray!!!! I'm back with another fic. Whoo! This is actually a story from my ReixAya tandem but after not getting reviews from my readers I decided to make this story an Ichiruki fic. Haha. By the way, how are you all doing, minna? Hope you were all fine. This is a new IchiRuki fic so I hope you'll love this just like the love we had for this two couple (_they aren't really a couple, right? But I wish they are)_. I used a prince-type plot here. I got the idea after watching the movie "The Prince and Me". Well, how do I say it, I really want to write stories like this on but there were circumstances that prevented me on writing it. So I'm hoping that you will like this one as I like it. I'm a fairytale lover, didn't you know that? It's because I'm dreaming of having a happy ending to. Whoo!!!!

You probably would find some mistakes on the grammar, punctuation marks, and prepositions in this chapter but I hope you can read it well. Please leave reviews, I need it. It serves as my motivation barometer. Haha. Hey! What are we all waiting for? Here now is Shachiecoh Hime signing on!!! Here we go.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach. I do not own any episodes of the series Bleach or a hardcopy issue of its manga. I do not own Ichigo, Rukia, etc. or any Rukia and Ichigo sweetness you are going to witness in this chapter. I'm not the super genius Kubo Tite. I'm just Shachiecoh Hime.

…

…

"When it comes to love…

…

Most people believe you only have two choices. Either you play the part of the knight in shining armor and travel half way around the globe to find it or you wait patiently for love to come knocking as the damsel in distress would in the top most room of the highest tower.

…

What most people fail to realize that there is a middle ground between two extremes. Love is not something you can find in the same way you find a lost pen or a perfect white lie. Neither is it something that will just fall into your lap while you are sitting on a park during lunch on a bright sunny day. Love requires a balance between initiative and fate and is much like your favorite song; you listen to it, sing along and keep it playing."

…

…

**-----Scene One: ****And it started Once Upon A Time-----**

…

…

"…Did you get what I was trying to point out about love, your highness?" Kenpachi asked the future king of Karakura.

The prince nodded in his response.

"I see… Well that's all I have to discuss for today's lesson. I'll be seeing you next week, okay?" The teacher said.

"Yeah. Happy weekend, Sensei." The prince said to him.

Suddenly a knock came outside the door.

…

**Knock! Knock! Knock!**

"Who is it?" Ichigo asked.

"It's Uuryu, your highness." The kingdom's butler said.

"I see." Ichigo replied. "What do you want?"

"The King and Queen are calling you."

"Otou-sama and Okaa-sama?" He asked. "Doushite?"

"They didn't say. They're waiting at you at the dining room."

"I see. You may go then. I'll go there right away."

"Hai!"

…

…

At the dining table,

"Are you sure it's the best, Honey?" The queen asked.

"Yeah." The King replied. "That guy has no interest on ruling this kingdom that's why he didn't look for his own princess. If he rejects my offer then I have no choice but to put an arrange marriage."

The handsome prince then came in on the dining hall and greeted his parents. "You call me?" he asked the King.

"Yeah." The King replied after drinking wine on his goblet. "Have a sit." He told Ichigo.

He did as what the King ordered. "What do you want to talk about, Sire?" He asked.

"Well I hope you haven't forgotten."

"Forgotten about what?"

"You only have at least one year remaining before your 18th birthday."

"So?"

"That means that I'll pass the crown to you but in order to do that you must first find a princess who will soon be the queen of Karakura."

"What if I don't look for one?"

"Then I have no choice but to settle a political marriage for you, my son. Have you heard about the Lockhart Heiress? The princess of that kingdom is so beautiful. She's not bad if she ends up being our daughter-in-law."

Ichigo gulped hard. "You mean Lady Tifa of Nibelheim?" He asked. "She's engaged with the Prince Cloud of the Strife Clan. How could you do that? To break someone's relationship just to find me a princess! That's mean."

"Well, if you don't want what we are suggesting then you have to seek out a princess for yourself." The King ordered.

"What???"

"My dear…" The Queen said. "…You're not born in this world to live only with yourself. You're handsome and smart. I think there's a perfect girl waiting for you outside the castle. You have to find a girl who you have to protect."

"You're mother is right." The King agreed. "Now a take a limousine and an escort and roam around the city. Who ever catch your eyes will soon become your wife."

The handsome prince sighed. "Geez! Like there's a choice." He said. "All I have to do is find a girl, right? But what will happen if I don't bring a girl tonight?"

"Well…" The King replied. "I'm afraid to tell you that if you go home tonight without any result on your trip you will marry Lady Tifa no matter what."

Ichigo stood up on his seat. "Ishida." He called his butler.

The glass-wearing guy went inside the dining hall and asked. "You call?"

"Prepare my motorcycle for I'm going outside the kingdom and simple clothes for me." He ordered.

"As you wish." Ishida replied. "Hmmm… Should I join you?"

He shook his head. "Nope. This is my job alone.'

"I see. I understand."

…

…

Ichigo, wearing a pair of blue t-shirt and black pants with his hair dyed in black, hopped in on his motorcycle and rode off the castle. On his look, no one would think that he was the prince of Karakura. But despite on how ordinary he looks there's no denial that this guy is one in a million for being a handsome!!!!

He roams around the city. He saw many beautiful girls in a wealthy family; poor family but no one catch his attention. The King's challenge would be easy if only he had a girlfriend but he had no idea of what is love and he never experiences it before. For him, being the Karakura's prince is really pain in the butt. Why must he have to find a princess right away? As far as he know, about Kenpachi's lesson last morning that love is not easy to find in the same way you find a lost pen or a perfect white lie. Neither is it something that will just fall into your lap while you are sitting on a park during lunch on a bright sunny day. If he can only be reborn in this world again he'll wish to be born as an ordinary citizen of that country with a freedom. Where in he can have fun with everyone, go to school from Monday to Friday and most of all gain many friends.

It's already noon but finding the girl you want to be with for the rest of your life is difficult. He's tired and he's hungry. If he didn't find one he'll end up marrying Lady Tifa and that will surely hurt Prince Cloud. Tifa is his childhood friend and she's beautiful and there's no doubt about it but she's engaged with one of his friend and he can't afford to hurt him since he is a good friends with him. After a while, he decides to look for a place to stay first. He wants to rest and plans to continue his searching for the right one after he eats.

He wander and wander all over the town without knowing that's he is already in a place he have never been there before. He found a small forest and he is intrigued on what lies inside it. He parked his motorcycle and then he enters the said forest. As he walks, there he discovers an old church located in the middle of a forest. _"A church?'_ He thought. _"I never thought that there's a place like this in Karakura."_ He heads toward it and he slowly opened the wooden door and there he sees broken pieces of chair, dried leaves, broken statues of angels etc. He looked above and he sees that the roof is so rusty and had lots of holes which enables sunlight to come in.

In the front of the altar there were lots of flowers planted on the ground. He can smell the sweet sent of the said flower_. "Iris?"_ He thought. He was then surprised to see a girl wearing a blue sleeve-less dress who seems to be checking the condition of the flowers. Her back is facing him so he had no idea on what she looks like.

"Anno…" Ichigo called.

The girl, whose name is Rukia, flips out and surprised. She looked back to the church's entrance and asked. "Dare?"

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew and the irises petals soon dances on the air as the two of them looked at each other. Silence fall on those two.

…

_**Tuug! Tuug! Tuug!**_

_**Tuug! Tuug! Tuug!**_

_**Tuug! Tuug! Tuug!**_

…

Ichigo looked at her. She did the same. No one's making the move to speak and ask who she is or who is he. _"Nande?" _Ichigo thought. _"My heart beats so fast."_

Seeing his trouble eyes, Rukia stood up and came closer to him. She asks. "Daijobu?"

He startled. "Huh?" He replied.

"Are you okay?" She asked again. "You were spacing out."

"Ahh… Yeah. I'm fine."

"I see. That's good." She said as she went back to the flowers to check on them.

Ichigo followed her and said. "That's a good flower. Are you the one taking care of it?"

Rukia nodded. "Yeah. No one knows that there's Iris blooming here in the church that's why I came to this place every now and them to take care of them."

"I see." Ichigo replied.

Silence.

He then thinks of something to say to break the silence. "But you know that you can gain money with that?" He added.

Rukia looks at him and asked. "Really? How come?"

"Yeah. Why not sell those flowers on the market. If you do that, Karakura will be beautiful, right? It's just like Karakura full of flowers and wallet full of money, right?"

"Karakura full of flowers and wallet full of money, you say?" Rukia asked. "I like that. It sounds interesting."

"I'll help you."

"Promise?"

"Yeah."

They stare at each others once again. She smiled at him. He did the same. "I haven't introduce myself to you, Have I?" She asked. "I'm Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki. Nice to meet you."

"Rukia?" Ichigo asked. "Nice to meet you too. I'm…" He paused for a while. _"Should I tell her I'm Prince Ichigo? No. It will be a wrong move if I say that besides she didn't even notice it was me. It maybe because of the reason I dyed my orange hair with black color before leaving the palace. _"Well… I'm… Kaien Shiba." Ichigo introduce himself. He decided to hide his true identity first to her by using a fake name.

"Kaien??" Rukia asked. "That's a good name."

"You think so? Thanks." He replied. "_Actually, Kaien Shiba is a character from the novel I'm currently reading."_ He said to his mind.

"By the way, I'm just curious." Rukia told him as she stood up and sat on one of church's chair. "How did you find this abandoned church? I mean it's located inside the forest and far away from the city. How come you get here? Are you lost?"

"Ahh…" Ichigo said. It's another question that it's hard for him to answer. _"Well… the reason is I'm the prince and I'm looking for a princess. No. He she wouldn't believe that." _He thought of himself. "Well not really. I was just having some trouble with my parents so I left the house to cool my mind. As I look for a place to hide I see this forest and my feet brought me here."

"Really?" Rukia asked. "Can you tell me about it?"

Ichigo smiled.

Rukia sees through Ichigo's eyes that he doesn't want to talk about it. "Okay. If you don't want to then I will not force you to tell me."

"I'm sorry. It's a serious matter. But… I will definitely tell it to you when the time comes."

"Alright. There must be a reason why you don't want to talk about that. So I'll wait. I'll wait until you want to tell me. But it's okay if you don't."

Ichigo looks at her. "Thanks. But how about you?" He asked again. "Do you live here?"

"Nope. I live in the town. This place is my sanctuary."

"Ahh…"

"By the way have you taken your lunch yet?"

"Well…" Ichigo replied.

"I prepared lunch myself before I went here. Care to join me?"

He is about to opened his mouth to answer, but his stomach did the talking. He blushed because of embarrassment and shifted nervously. "Are… Are you sure?"

Rukia smiled. "Of course I am. I made lots of it so I don't mind sharing it with you. Let's go outside the church. There's a big Sakura tree outside. Let's eat there."

Ichigo nodded as his response.

The two of them soon step out of the abandoned church and headed to the Sakura tree that Rukia had been talking a while ago. It's located in front of the church. She placed a checkered blanket on the ground and serves the food one at a time. There were bread, pasta, chicken, a bottle of cold soft drinks and a chocolate cake. Ichigo starts to wonder why it is many.

"Are you expecting someone to come here? I mean are you having picnic with your friends here?" He asked as he sat on the ground.

"Huh?" Rukia asked. "Why did you say so?"

"Isn't the food were too much?" He asked.

"Oh! I get it." Rukia asked. "It's because today is my birthday."

"Ah…" Ichigo replied. "Wait! Your birthday?"

Rukia nodded. "Yup. I'm 17 now."

"Oh. Happy birthday."

"Thanks."

"Are planning on celebrating it alone?" He asked.

"My brother is working overseas but he called me and greeted me."

"What about your friends?"

"We celebrated it yesterday right after my class. We held it in my house."

"Ah…"

"Here." Rukia said as she handed the plate to Ichigo containing pasta, bread with tuna spread and a slice of chocolate cake."

"Thanks." Ichigo replied.

"**ITTADAKIMASU!!!!"** They both said in unison.

Together they both eat the food that Rukia prepared. "It's delicious." Ichigo said. "Are you the one who cooked it?"

"Yeah. Isn't it a bit salty?"

"No. It's great. What do you call this dish?"

"Pasta with white sauce, I think." Rukia replied.

"In our palace I remember our maid serve something like this too. I think it's called Carbonara." Ichigo said.

"I see." Rukia replied. "Wait! Did you say palace?"

Ichigo gulped hard. "Place. I mean in our place our maid serve something like this too."

"Really? I was surprise when I mistakenly heard palace."

"Why?"

"I thought you're one of the Kingdom's guard or knights." Rukia replied.

"Ahh… The truth is… I'm." Ichigo said but didn't continue. "Changing the topic." He said. "You said a while ago that this place is your sanctuary, right?"

"Yeah. But I only come to this place during weekends or whenever there are no classes in school. When I'm in the church I feel solitude and calmness here. I like the view here, you know?"

"The view…?" Ichigo asked curiously. "…But the only thing that you can see here is the church, right?"

Rukia shook her head. She holds Ichigo's head and tilt it 40 degrees on the left side of the church. "Look." She said.

His eyes widened on what he sees. "That's…" He replied.

"Yup." Rukia replied. "The Balamb Garden-- Karakura's Palace."

"I never knew that you can have a view of the palace from here." Ichigo said. _(It's his home, right?)_

"I didn't notice it before but you know…" Rukia said. "…Whenever I stared at the palace I don't know why but it really makes me feel good. I think it's because I'm dreaming of living on it before."

"Huh?"

"Funny, isn't it? How can I live in such a wonderful place like that? I mean I'm just an ordinary girl here in Karakura." Rukia said. "Oh, wait!" She said. "There's a way."

"What?"

"Marry the prince." Rukia answered. It makes Ichigo's heart skipped for a while. "But how can I do that? I never meet the prince before."

He didn't answer.

"Doushite? If you want to laugh you can. I don't mind."

"I'm not laughing." Ichigo told her. "Anno… Rukia." He said.

"Nani?"

He looked at her honest eyes. "Iie.."

Rukia's wondering why but she said. "Okay." After a couple of silence, Rukia said something again. "You know I was wondering if the prince lived a happily life?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that I got the feeling that the prince is somehow comparable to a caged bird. They said that if you're a prince or a princess you'll get whatever you like but is that really true? I mean what if the prince is suffering like he can't decide on his own free will because the King and Queen were the one who always make decisions for him. It's tough, you know? It's like your fate is being controlled by others."

Ichigo remained silence. He never thought that there's someone here who understands his situation. "I guess you're right." He answered.

"I think I kinda see myself to him too."

"You mean you're alike?"

"I lost my parents when I was a kid and now I'm living with my brother. My brother is very strict and never let me do anything a girl would do. I always had a curfew at six and they are not allowing me to do part-time jobs, and, worst of all, being furious at me even if I a few points off on being number one in academics. He also never allowed me to go on dates. I feel like I was being tied down. One day I wake up that this must come to end. I made up my mind not to follow other desires but instead live life by my own rules, take whatever life throws at me and have the most out of everything. If I ever get the chance to meet the prince I'll say it to him. It's just that I'm worried that time will come that he can't decide on his own. If that happens he'll never get he chance to stand on his own feet that surely affects his ruling in this kingdom for sure."

"Rukia." Ichigo called.

"Oh I'm sorry." Rukia said. "I was carried away. I'm sorry."

"No. It's fine." Ichigo told her. "Hearing that makes me realize that you are right and you shouldn't let others decide your own happiness."

Suddenly a pink butterfly passed between them. "Look." Rukia said. "A butterfly. Kirei."

"Yeah." He agreed. He then remembers something he learned from his mother when he was young. He raises his palm and allowed the butterfly to land on it. It really does. Rukia was amazed on it. "Sugoi." She said.

Ichigo then holds Rukia's right hand and slowly transferred the pink butterfly on her palm. "My mother once told me that if you catch a butterfly you should whisper a wish on it and set it free. The butterfly is the one who will deliver your wish to the Gods."

"Really?"

"Make a wish." Ichigo said. "Today's your birthday, right?"

"But what will I wish?" Rukia asked.

"Something you never had before?"

Rukia thought for a while. "I have good friends and have a happy life too but there's something I didn't experience yet. If I wish for a prince would that be okay?"

"A prince?" Ichigo asked. "Hmm… I think so."

Rukia then closes her eyes and prayed. "Well to the gods or goddess who will receive my message I wish I may I wish I might have the wish I wish today. I'm wishing that one of these days I'll meet my prince. It's just that I am envious with my friends because there's someone that looks after them. Please I want to be protected too." Rukia slowly opened her eyes and set the butterfly free. "Will my wish come true?" Rukia asked Ichigo. "Maybe I should wish something better like passing my midterm exams or an increase in my allowance."

"Who knows?" He answered. "You have to believe."

"I guess you're right."

Suddenly,

"Hey!" Ichigo said as he remembered something. "I brought my i-pod here. Care to listens some songs for a while?"

"Sure." Rukia replied.

They seated right to each others. Ichigo placed one of the ear phone on Rukia's left ear and the other one was on his. "Which songs do you want to listen?" He asked.

"Anything." Rukia replied.

"How about songs from Aqua Timez or from UVERworld?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh? You like that?" Rukia questioned. "Me too. I also like listening to the songs of Boa, Yui, Kotoko and Mami Kawada, Gack-T."

"Really? That's my favorites too. I didn't know we share the common interests when it comes to music. I wonder in other things."

"Let's see." Rukia said. "Who's your favorite author?"

"Well she's not that famous yet but I love some of her novels and fan fictions. Maybe you never heard of her before but she's my favorite. Her name is Shachiecoh Hime _(Ehem!)_" Ichigo said.

"The one who wrote the very successful "When God writes your story" and "I'm in love with my sister" story" Rukia replied.

"You know her?" He asked.

"Of course. I'm a big fan of her." Rukia giggled. "Hey, Kaien." She called.

"Yes?" He asked even though his name is Ichigo.

"Don't you find it weird? It's the first time we meet each other but we really clicked a lot don't you think. I never thought of meeting someone with the same interest like mine."

"Yeah."

…

…

The two of them listen to Ichigo's i-pod for a long time. There were times that they were sing along with the music even though it's not on the right tune. They had fun. They didn't even notice the time. After listening to almost 23 tracks of music Ichigo thought about his father's deal. He asked Rukia. "Neh, Rukia… Do you think we could be a great couple?"

She didn't answer.

"Hey." Ichigo called. "Because if you say yes… I'll tell you that I'm Karakura's…" He isn't finished on what he's saying when Rukia's head fall on his shoulder. She's sleeping like a princess.

He smiled. He removed the earphone on her ear and comfortably allowed Rukia to sleep on his shoulder. He sighed. "What the hell I was saying, right?" You told me that I shouldn't let anyone controls my fate. I was about to give up but I met you. Thanks." He whispered to Rukia. He then removes several hair stands on Rukia's face and tells her. "Sleep well for a while. I'll be right next to you as soon as you wake up."

…

…

Several hours had passed and the sun is about to set. Ichigo found himself sleeping also right next to Rukia. He's the first one to wake up. "Huh?" He said after opening his tired eyes. "Where am I?" He asked when he sees Rukia still sleeping on his shoulder. He removed once again the hair strands covering Rukia's beautiful face. It tickled her. "Hmm…" Rukia said as she opened her eyes.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Ichigo said. "Did I wake you up?"

Rukia blushes seeing Ichigo's face an inch away from her. She quickly raises her head away from his shoulder and apologizes. "Gomen, I didn't know that I fall as sleep. I'm so embarrassed. You should at least wake me up."

"Iie. There's nothing to worry about it. I fell asleep too."

"Really?"

"Besides you were sleeping peacefully and I can't afford to wake you up."

"I see. Thanks. By the way I have something to tell you."

"What?" Ichigo asked.

"Remember what I wished at the butterfly a while ago." Rukia asked.

"Yeah."

"You know I dreamed that I was sleeping right on Prince Ichigo's shoulder then he asked me if we could be a great couple."

Ichigo is surprised. That incident happened, right? He paused for a while and asked. "So… So what did you answer to his question?"

"I agreed." Rukia said happily. "I wished that I want to meet a prince but I never expected that a real prince will come and visit me in my dreams. Even though it's just a dream asking by the prince a question like that really makes me happy."

Ichigo smiled. "Dreams do coming true, right?"

Rukia nodded. "I know someday my prince will come. I'll be waiting for that." She stood up and looks at the crimson sky. "It's beautiful." She said.

"Yeah."

"Today was very fun. Right, Kaien?"

"Eh? Yes. Well, too much stuffs happened though." Ichigo replied.

"I learnt many new things today… and spent a wonderful day, all because of you, Kaien."

Ichigo blushed.

Rukia looks at Ichigo. "Hey, don't over do yourself by trying to bear all the problems. If you're having trouble with your parents or can't decide on your own just remember things like this. If you do it like you did today, face problems and head on. I'm sure you would experience wonderful things one day. It will be alright. You are what you are."

"Rukia."

She smiled at him. "It was really fun today."

"Yeah." Ichigo agreed. "By the way I'm afraid to tell it to you but I have to go home now."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"Wait!" Rukia told him. "Call me right away as soon as you arrive at your home, okay?" She handed a piece of card to him- A calling card.

"Huh?"

"So that I can assure myself that you went home safely."

Ichigo smiled. "Okay. I'll call you."

"Thanks."

"But before I leave there's something I want you to have." Ichigo said as he removes something on his neck. He gave it to Rukia.

"A necklace?" Rukia asked. It's a white-gold necklace with a lock heart pendant on it. On the middle of the pendant there's a stone place on it. It's a white crystal. "What's this stone?" She asked again.

"A diamond." Ichigo answered. "A very rare diamond. It's called the Heart of Ocean."

"Heart of ocean?"

"Yeah."

"I can't have this."

"Eh?"

"I can't have an expensive thing like this. I'm sorry."

Ichigo closes Rukia's hand with the necklace on it. "It's my gift for you since today's your birthday and for our first meeting. Keep it."

"Are you sure?"

Ichigo nodded.

"Thanks."

He then wears it around Rukia's neck. "Kirei." She said.

"I'm glad that you liked it." Ichigo said. "Neh, Rukia?"

"Eh?"

"We… We will meet again, right?"

Rukia smiled. "Yeah. I get the feeling we'll meet again."

"Hearing that makes me happy. Well then I'll leave now but first I'll walk you home."

"Iie. I can do it on my own. Just don't forget your promise that you'll call me, okay?"

Ichigo smiled. "Hai."

…

…

Ichigo soon went home after that. On his way, Uuryu met him. "You're late." Uuryu told him.

"I know." Ichigo said after handling to Uuryu the clothes he borrowed last morning. His hair is also back to its normal color. "Where are the King and Queen?"

"They are at their room." Ishida replied.

"I'm going to talk to them." The prince said. He then went to his parent's room. "Father." He called outside the room.

"Come in." His father replied.

He opened the door and step in. "I'm back." He said.

Putting down the pen he is holding the King replied. "So? You're alone? Does that mean I won?"

"I will not marry Lady Tifa." Ichigo said straight to the point.

"But you lost to our deal, right?" The King said.

"Father." He explained. "Ever since I was a kid I always followed whatever orders you ordered me. I never been a bad son to you until now but in times like this I'm afraid but I have to disobey you. I won't allow you to steal my own happiness just for the sake of the kingdom. Whoever I want to go steady with and spend my life with forever is my choice. That's why I'm not going to marry her. If you still insisted it then marry her in place of me. Got that?"

"Ichigo." The queen called. "You speak like…"

"It's okay, Honey." The King said. "So don't tell me you found one?"

"I don't know but thanks to her I was awaken. I'm not a doll that was being controlled by your own strings. I have a life too. I want to at least experience being ordinary guy with freedom too. That's all I have to say now. Good night."

"Fine. Do whatever you want. But if you still haven't found a princess before your birthday I'm afraid but you have to marry Lady Tifa. Let's see if you can find one." The King challenged.

Ichigo smiled.

"You're pretty confident, huh. What's the meaning of that?"

"Ha!" Ichigo said. "Then I tell you now. You are already lost."

The King smiled. "Is that so? If that's the case then I want to meet her as soon as possible."

"No. It's not the time yet."

"Doushite?"

"I don't know but for now at least I found someone whom I can protect…" Ichigo said. He twists the knob of the door and leaves. As he walks, he thought.

…

"…_someone I can look too."_

…

…

_To be continued._

…

_.._

**Notes:**

It's done!!!! Chapter 1 is done!!! Banzai!!! Haha. How do you like it, my dear readers? Did you enjoy it? If so, please leave a comment for me. It will be appreciated! You know… it makes the author happy when their readers appreciate their works. Wahaha! It's just like what a friend said. ^^

If you have any questions or comments. Please PM me, okay? I'll be willing to answer that. So? I'll see you all in Scene 2. You better look forward to that. ^^

See you later!

**Shachiecoh Hime**


	2. Birth Of Love

***The Tale of Two Lovers***

**Author's Note: **Aahhh!!!! It's so hot!!! Summer is not the best season here in my country. I feel I am being steam because of so much heat. Argghhh!!!! I need Hyourinmaru and Sode no Shirayuki here to make my room here made of ice. (Whoo!!! That would make me feel like an Eskimo ^^) Anyway, thanks to those who read the previous chapter. Honto ni Arigatou. Hehe.

You probably would find some mistakes on the grammar, punctuation marks, and prepositions in this chapter but I hope you can read it well. Please leave reviews, I need it. It serves as my motivation barometer. Haha. Hey! What are we all waiting for? Here now is Shachiecoh Hime signing on!!! Here we go.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach. I do not own any episodes of the series Bleach or a hardcopy issue of its manga. I do not own Ichigo, Rukia, etc. or any Rukia and Ichigo sweetness you are going to witness in this chapter. I'm not the super genius Kubo Tite. I'm just Shachiecoh Hime.

….

…

"Do whatever you want. But if you still haven't found a princess before your birthday I have no choice but to set a political marriage for you." The King said.

Ichigo smiled.

"You're pretty confident, huh. What's the meaning of that?"

"Well if that's the case then I'll probably be the winner by now."

"What do you mean?"

"I already found the one…

…

…

The one I'm going to protect…

…

And her name is…"

…

…

**Activity 2:**** Birth Of Love**

…

…

"God!" Ichigo sighed in relief after a big talk with his father. "I am saved. I'm glad."

"I'm sorry." Ishida told him outside the room. "I overheard your conversation. Is it true that you already found the girl of your destiny?"

"It's just an alibi so that I can fool the King." He paused for a while and added. "But I did really find a girl and I found her interesting."

"I see." Ishida replied. He then pulled something on his pocket and handed it to the prince. "By the way I got this on the clothes you borrowed. Is this yours?"

"What's that?"

"A card. I think."

Ichigo then remembered his promise to Rukia to call her right after he went home. "God! I almost forgot. Give me my phone." He instructed. After receiving one from Ishida he quickly dialed the numbers and wait for several seconds. After a while, he talked. "Hey! Rukia. It's me, Kaien. I call as I promised. Yeah. Hmm.. Okay. I got it. Oyasumi."

"Kaien??" Ishida asked. "What's with that name? You didn't tell her that you're the prince?"

"Well… "I never get the chance to tell her."

"Huh? Why?"

"I didn't planned on hiding it but every time I was about to tell her I always backed out in the moment. Besides she opened a topic on how she sees the Prince. She even told me that if she meets him she'll tell him that live life by his own rules."

"But she already said it to you unnoticed."

Ichigo smiled. "Yeah. She didn't have any idea that I was the prince himself but you know talking to her makes me at ease. She's the only one who looked at me in a different way. She knows what I'm experiencing right now. At first I thought she's just the same as many girls out there but I was wrong. She's one of a kind. I mean an honest girl like her is rare to find these days."

Ishida smiled too. "So her name is Rukia."

"Yeah. Kuchiki Rukia. She told me to call her as soon as I got home."

"And you really did?"

"Because I promised her."

"And what did she told you?"

"Nothing important. Just don't try skipping dinner."

"So are you gonna keep on seeing her?"

Ichigo nodded. "I think so but I'll hide first my real identity to her to protect her. If the time asks me too then I have no choice but to tell her right?"

"Yeah."

Two days later, at a public high school called Karakura. Two girls were talking to each others inside the cafeteria. They were taking their lunch. "Aren't you eating too much, Rangiku-san?" Momo asked the big-breast girl who's eating like there's no tomorrow. "You'll get fat if you continue eating like that."

"Don't worry, Hinamori." Rangiku replied. "I didn't take my breakfast last morning since I woke up late that's why I have to replenish my electrolytes by eating as much as I can. By the way can you hand me that… Urgh…." Rangiku replied when she suddenly got choke because of eating too much.

"Rangiku-san, what's wrong?" Hinamori asks, worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Wa…wa…teer…" She replied in dying mode.

Suddenly a glass of water was offered by a new coming girl. "Here."

The two looked at her and there stood a beautiful girl in front of them. "Rukia-chan." They both called.

She smiled at her best friends. "Didn't I tell you before not to talk when your mouth is full?" She said to Rangiku.

After drinking some water Rangiku replied. "Hai! Hai! Wakatteru."

"By the way where did you go?" Hinamori asked as Rukia takes a sit. "We're looking for you in our room but you're out of sight. We're sorry if we go on lunch ahead of you."

"It's okay." Rukia replied. "There's no need to apologize for it, Hinamori. I just check something on my locker."

"Ahh… I thought you were in the meeting again." Rangiku said.

"Come to think of it how's the preparation for the Halloween Party?" Hinamori asked.

"Well it's doing well." Rukia answered. "I mean we are getting more and more suggestions from other sections so we can't still decide on what to do. Like last week they suggested to have a costume party. But we're still open for new ideas since we have at least a month to prepare for Oct.31st."

"Costume Party?" Rangiku said. "Isn't it better to organize a concert?"

"Like I said the ideas are still open, right?" Rukia replied.

"But whatever the decisions will be one thing is for sure that it will cost us money." Hinamori said when she caught a glimpse of Rukia's necklace. "Kirei." She added.

"Huh?" Rukia and Rangiku wondered.

"Who's beautiful?" Rukia asked.

"Me?" Rangiku added.

"That necklace of yours, Rukia. It's beautiful. Where did you buy that?"

"Oh this?" Rukia asked as she showed it to her friends. "Someone gave me this."

"Gave it to you?" Rangiku said. "Why?"

"It's my birthday last Saturday, right?"

"So you have a new boyfriend?" Hinamori asked.

"You got it wrong." Rukia replied. "A new friend, I think."

"Where did you meet this person?" Rangiku asked.

She paused for a while and then told the two girls. "I met him in the church."

"The one who gave that to you must be a royalty. A guy wouldn't give something like that to a person unless he is rich." Rangiku said.

"He told me this is called 'The Heart of the Ocean'."

"Heart of the ocean? I think I read something like that before but I can't remember." Hinamori said.

"Do you know from what House he is?" Rangiku asked.

"I don't know." Rukia replied. "He told me his name is Kaien Shiba but I forgot to asked where he lives."

"Kaien???" They both asked.

Rukia nodded. "But you know. If you see him in person how can I say it? He's so cool. You'll never believe that there's another guy here in Karakura who's handsome as the prince."

"So why not introduce that guy to us." Rangiku insisted.

"Eh????" Rukia reacted. "You gotta be kidding."

"Yeah. That's a great idea." Hinamori suggested.

"We want to meet the guy who gave you that necklace." Rangiku said. "If you're friends with him we should too. I mean we want to make sure if the one you are dating now is the real guy for you."

"But we are not that close. I only met him last Saturday and the last time we talked was the night after he got back to his home. Since then he never called me. Maybe he already had forgotten me. Guys are supposed to be like that, right?"

"I don't think so." Hinamori said. "When you met someone and have a memorable time with him or her it's impossible for them to just forget."

"Really?" Rukia said in low tone. "But why he is…?"

Rangiku and Hinamori looked at each other. "Anno… Maybe he's waiting for your call too."

"Waiting for my call?" Rukia asked.

They nodded as their response.

…

…

Suddenly Ikaku and Yumichika, two of Rukia's friends and classmates, came to them bringing them their school bags. Surprised on what's happening. They asked. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Afternoon classes are suspended because the faculty members are having a meeting that's why we have a self-study class today." Ikaku told the three gals."

"The class has been cut off. Isn't that great?" Yumichika added.

"For real?" They three rejoiced.

"Yeah. That's why we are bringing your bags here." Ikaku said as she handed those three their respective bags."

"Thanks."

"**Aaahhh!!!!"** Rangiku shouted because she's pissed. "If they are going to cut the class at least does it before lunch!!! God!!! I spent 100 Yen ordering this not-so-good-food. Sensei!!! Give me back my money!!!" She cried.

"It can't be helped." Hinamori replied. "Let's just hang out in the mall to freshen your mind, Rangiku."

"I'll go too." The two guys volunteered.

"I'll pass." Rukia said.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry but I'm going to the church to check the flowers there." Rukia said.

Hearing what Rukia said, Rangiku suddenly raised her voice**. "Church. Church. Church."** Rangiku shouted. "I heard it since we asked you about that necklace. Are you still going on that place until now?"

"Yeah." Rukia replied. "Is something wrong on staying there?"

"No. I mean…" Rangiku said. "Isn't going on that place kept you on remembering?"

"Remembering? What?" She asked.

"The things that happened in the past!" Rangiku shouted.

"Rangiku-san." Hinamori called. "Stop it."

"Daijobu." Rukia said. "I already moved on besides I am also taking chances on seeing Kaien there. After all he asked me if we could meet again on that place and I agreed. You told me that you want to meet him, right? If I saw him there I'll ask for it."

"Really?" Hinamori asked.

Rukia nodded.

"Neh, Rukia-chan." Rangiku called in low tone.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry. About a while ago."

Rukia smiled. "It's okay. I know you are worried about me but _**"it's"**_ already in the past. I already let go of it."

"Rukia."

…

Meanwhile at the church, two hours later after Rukia's class dismissal. The prince, I mean Ichigo is sitting under the Sakura Tree in front of the church. Together with him is a brown lion-cat look-a-like named Kon. It's his pet.

"Do you think she'll come?" Ichigo asked his pet.

"Arfff!! _(Yes)_" Kon replied.

"But she said she only came here during weekends. And we are on this place since 1:00 and it's almost 3:00. God! I should have listened to that Ishida. Let's go home, Kon." He carried his favorite pet on his arms and planned to leave the place when a voice stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going, sir?" She asked.

Ichigo looked back and replied. "Rukia."

"I know you'll come so I drop by." She replied. "It's been two days, right? How have you been?" Rukia asked.

"Well. I'm doing fine." Ichigo replied. "How about you?"

"Good as always."

Ichigo smiled at her. "Wait! That uniform?"

"Yeah. I'm a 3rd year student from Hounan."

"I see. Are you skipping class? I thought you only came here only weekends?"

Rukia shook her head. "Our class had been cut off because of faculty meeting." Suddenly she sees Kon wrapped on Ichigo's arms. She said. "Kawaii!!!"

"Oh?" Ichigo said as he comes closer to Rukia. He slowly gave Kon to Rukia . "His name is Kon."

Rukia looks at him.

Kon blushed. "Arrff!!! _(Nee-san)_

Rukia smiled. She hugged him. It's cuddly and the hair is so soft. "Kon? What a cute name."

Kon buried his face on Rukia's chest. "Arfff!!! Arff!!! _(All hail the valley of Heaven)_

Rukia surprised on what Kon did. "Stop it, Kon." Rukia cried. "It tickles me. Ahaha." She laughed.

Seeing, Rukia's happiness. Ichigo smiled. "It seems that she liked you."

"Yeah." Rukia replied as she puts down Kon. It played by himself. It ran over the place and chases a white butterfly. On the other hand Rukia and Ichigo went inside the church.

…

…

"I thought you already forgotten me." Rukia said as she sits down and pick an iris flower in front of the altar.

"How could I do that?" Ichigo replied as he came closer to where Rukia is.

She stood up and handed him the flower. He accepts it. "…Because after your last call last Saturday night I didn't receive another call or even a text after that."

"Ahh… It's because I'm busy. And I'm also waiting for your call."

"For my call?"

"Yeah. I'm waiting for your calls because I'm thinking that the reason is you miss me."

"Miss you?" Rukia blushed.

"I'm just kidding." Ichigo said.

"The truth is I really want to call you. I want to hear your voice but I don't know what to tell you if you answer the phone. I'm afraid that you'll get bore or something. That's why…"

"So you did miss me?"

Rukia paused for a while along with a nod.

Ichigo smiled. "Really?"

Rukia looked at him and noticed that Ichigo's wearing contacts. "Wait! Are you wearing contacts?"

"Oh? You noticed it?" Ichigo asked.

"Would I ask if I didn't?"

He lowered his eyes just as the same height of Rukia's. "It's the same color of the sky, right?"

Rukia smiled.

"Do you like it?"

"Not telling you."

"But I think it's not good to me right now because I had these eye bags and it's because of you." Ichigo said as he showed Rukia the black linings below his eyes.

"Because of me?" Rukia asked. "How come?"

"I haven't got enough sleep for the past two days because I kept on thinking of you."

Rukia blushed. "Silly. So you're blaming me for that?"

Ichigo smiled. "What about a date to make up for that? Is that okay?"

"Date? Oh! Shut up." Rukia told Ichigo but she remembered her promise to her friends about introducing him to them. "Wait! I think I can go."

"Really?" Ichigo asked. "You'll go out with me?"

Rukia nodded. "In only one condition."

"Condition?"

"I want you to meet my friends."

"Doushite?"

"I told them about you and this necklace that you gave me. They said they want to thank you for that. Is that okay?"

Ichigo paused for a moment. He's thinking on what will happen if someone figures out that he is the Karakura's prince. That would be a great trouble. Besides if the truth comes out how can he face Rukia for keeping it? But if an intelligent like her didn't notice that behind his ordinary looks hides a deep secret no one would notice it too. Besides he really wants to take Rukia out. He said. "It's the deal, right? I'm going to meet your girl friends and you'll go out with me?"

Rukia nodded. "I'll reward you a date if you do that."

"Fine. I'll do it."

"Really?" Rukia cried. "Thanks. They'll be happy if they found out about this."

"So where and when I can meet you friends?" Ichigo asked. "I'm going to arrange my schedules then."

"Eh? Are you that busy?"

"Not really."

"What about next Saturday? At 9:00 in the Wcdo near the Hachikou Statue at Shibuya. Is that okay?"

"I understood but how about our date?" He asked again.

"Oh? The date? Right after you meets my friends. It shouldn't take so long I'm sure. You're just going to introduce yourself to them and chat for a little while after that we can proceed to the date I promise you."

"I see. Is there's a place you want to go to?"

"In Heaven." Rukia replied.

Ichigo smiled. "What the meaning of that?"

"Nothing. But isn't it the guy's choice to think of a nice place where he would bring his date?"

"I still have 5 days to think for it." Ichigo answered.

"Make sure I'll have fun there because if not there won't be next time." Rukia said as she gives Ichigo a wink.

"Then I have to do my best then, right?"

They looked at each other and smiled. "Yeah."

…

_To be continued._

…

**Notes:**

He asked her out!!! Ichigo asked Rukia out, folks!!! How do you like that? I wonder what's gonna happen on their first date. Look forward to it, everyone. Ahaha. I hope you will leave a review for that! It will be appreciated! You know… it makes the author happy when their readers appreciate their works. Wahaha! ^^. If you have any questions or comments. Please PM me, okay? I'll be willing to answer that. So? I'll see you all in Activity 3. ^^

Ja ne!

**Shachiecoh Hime**


	3. First Date

***The Tale Of two Lovers***

**Author's Note: **HURRAY FOR THE NEW CHAPTER! _(Wahaha)._ Sorry for the delay. Things haven't been working as well as I wanted them to this week so I haven't really been up to writing. With stress from school _(Damn that enrollment! It took me three days to finished it)_, money problem _(I'm broke for almost two months--__)_, and this century old computer continuing to crash down on me, I'm about to rip my head off. By the way, how are you all doing my dear IchiRuki fans? Hope you were all fine.

You know? I've been troubled by lots of thoughts lately. Thinking on who will Ichigo ends up with in the end of Bleach anime/manga. Whether it is Rukia or Orihime gives me pressure. Ahhhh! No offence to Orihime fans out there but I really want Ichigo to end up with Rukia. Hehe. But of course, the only person who can solve that is none other than Kubo Tite. (Sigh!) How I wish Ichigo ends up with me. _(That would be so cool!)_ Hehe. Well, if you're going to dream of something-----aim high! Hehe.

You probably would find some mistakes on the grammar, punctuation marks, and prepositions in this chapter but I hope you can read it well. Please leave reviews, I need it. It serves as my motivation barometer. Haha. Hey! What are we all waiting for? Here now is Shachiecoh Hime signing on! Here we go.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach. I do not own any episodes of the series Bleach or a hardcopy issue of its manga. I do not own Ichigo, Rukia, etc. or any Rukia and Ichigo sweetness you are going to witness in this chapter. I'm not the super genius Kubo Tite. I'm just Shachiecoh Hime.

..

…

Wcdonalds, around 11:30 in the morning.

…

"… What's the meaning of this Rukia?" Ichigo asked surprisingly.

"Our call time is 9:00 in the morning, right? But look at the time now." Rukia explained angrily. "It's almost 12:00 noon. Do you know the difference between the numbers 9 and 12?"

"Let me explain." Ichigo replied. "I'm not a morning person."

"I don't want to hear anything." She turned her back on Ichigo and walked away. "You wasted your chance for a date. I can't believe myself that I agreed to go out with you. This is goodbye, Kaien."

"Matte! Rukia!" Ichigo shouted as he runs fast to catch up with her but no matter how fast he runs he still can't catch up. "There's a misunderstanding here, Rukia! Matte!"

Suddenly he opened his eyes and realizes that he is dreaming. _"A Dream?"_ Ichigo thought. He's sweating and his heart is pounding so much meaning that he's really scared of losing Rukia. He cast his eyes outside the window. The weather is great and nice-- a perfect day to have a date with the one you love. He gets up on his bed and checks his laptop for e-mails when he sees the time on his alarm clock telling that it's already 9:00 in the morning. He's eyes widened. A sudden flashback of his nightmare flashed on his mind. He's late on "their" date. "Aaaaahhhhh!" He shouted. He quickly went to his bathroom take a bath, fix himself, wear a black wig and headed down stairs.

Several maids who are lined up vertically on the down stairs greeted the most handsome prince on Earth. "Good morning, Ichigo-sama." They said as they bowed on him as a respect.

"I'm going out." He said. "Prepare my motorbike immediately." He instructed.

"What about your breakfast?" A maid asked.

"It's okay. I can hold it for the meantime. I'm in a hurry so do as I say." Ichigo replied. Suddenly the King and Queen came and asked him.

"Ichigo." The King called. "Where do you think you're going in this early morning?" He added.

"I'm going out for a walk." He replied.

"To where?"

"At The Shibuya." He answered.

"Are you sure?" The Queen asks, worriedly.

Ichigo nodded.

"Anno… Ichigo-sama." The head maid called.

"Whattt!" Ichigo shouted. He's pissed and he's angry.

The old maid came closer to him and whispered. "You're still wearing your pajamas."

Ichigo looked down and realizes that he mistakenly looked at his pajamas as his pants since he's in a hurry. **"Aaaaahhhhhh!"** He freaked out. He hurriedly go back to his room and in a blink of an eye he came back with full of embarrassment. "Ehem." He coughed. He's face is red as tomato because of embarrassment. "Is my bike already outside?" He asked.

"Guards!" The king called. "Stop that Prince." The King ordered.

Lots of guards come in from the entrance door and holds Ichigo. Surprise on what happen he shouted. "What's the meaning of this, Dad?"

"Cancel whatever walk you have. You're going to stay here and study for good manners. What kind of prince you are?" The King asked. "Please call to teach this poor guy how to act like a real prince."

The guards dragged the poor prince to the study room forcefully. The said prince cried like a child. "Let me go! Let me go!" He shouted when his phone rang. "My phone's ringing. My phone's ringing" He told the guards. "Someone get it for me."

One of the guards gets it in Ichigo's pocket and showed him whose calling. "It's her." He said as his eyes widen with happiness. "Give me the phone." He said. The guard does what he says. He breathes slowly and pressed the answer key. He said. "Rukia. Yeah. I'm on my way there now. Sorry if I'm late. Yeah. I'll see you and your friends later, okay?" Ichigo then turned of his phone and glared at his father.

"Is that the girl you are going to meet?"

He smiled. "She said don't let your guests waiting so I will not fail her. I'm going to see her no matter what. I'll take whatever punishment you will do to me so I'll go now" In a speed of light. He's no where of sight.

"He's gone in a blink of an eye." The Queen said.

"Geez! What an ill-mannered prince." The King said after a big sigh. "Will he able to rule this kingdom successfully?"

"But haven't you noticed?" The queen said. "He's been cheerful and he smiles a lot lately right?"

The King smiled. "Look what really love can do." He said

…

…

**Activity 3: First Date**

…

…

Meanwhile at Wcdo, three girls with two boys are busy waiting for a special guest. "HE"S LATE!" Rangiku shouted angrily.

"Neh, Rukia-chan." Ikaku said. "Is that guy of yours really coming? It's almost ten in the morning and I'm hungry."

"He told me he is on his way now." Rukia answered. "Just hang-on a little longer, okay?"

"You know, Rukia-chan." A midget-white-haired guy said. "You seem to be attached on your new boyfriend."

Rukia startled. "Like I tell Rangiku and Momo he's not my boyfriend or anything. We're just friends."

"Relationship always starts with friends, right?" Rangiku said.

…

Suddenly they saw a nice motorcycle that just got parked on the restaurant's parking lot. They all stared at the guy going down on it. "Speak of the devil." Rukia said.

Ichigo took off his helmet and brushed his hair with his hands. He takes a glimpse of Rukia's image near on the mirror wall of Wcdo and he smiled at her along with a wave. She did the same.

"Is that him?" Rangiku asked the black-haired girl as they look to him who's about to enter Wcdo.

"Ahhhhh!" Ikaku cried. "He's too dazzling!"

"He must be a royalty." Momo said. "Look at his bike."

Ichigo finally entered the fast-food chain and Rukia approached him. "Sorry." He told her. "I was caught on a heavy traffic. Did I make you and your friends wait that long?"

Rukia smiled. "Yeah. You are super late."

"I'm sorry." He apologized once again. He then put his attention to the four people sitting on table 143. He smiled at them. "You must be the friends that Rukia were talking to me. I'm Ichi--- I mean I'm Kaien. Nice to meet you all."

Toushiro leaned towards Ikaku and whispered. "This is bad!" He said. "He's emitting lots of pheromone."

"Lots of girls will surely get attracted to him if this continues." Ikaku cried.

"I'm Matsumoto." The orange-haired girl said.

"I'm Hinamori." Momo said.

"Hitsugaya Toushiro."

"Madarame."

"…Nice to meet you too." They said in unison.

Ichigo smiled at them. He offered them a handshake. After that long introduction Ichigo sits besides Rukia and said. "You must be all hungry now. Waiter!" He called. A waiter them came to them and entertain them. "Yes, sir?" The waiter replied.

"Value Meal, 6, 7, 8, please." He said.

"Kaien" Rukia called. "You ordered too much."

"Don't worry." He told her. "I'll pay everything so just sit there and eat as long as you can."

"Lucky!" Rangiku and Ikaku cried in happiness.

"But…" Rukia said.

"I got my salary on my part time job so it doesn't matter." Ichigo added.

"Huh?"

"You have a part time job?" Momo asked.

"Yeah." Ichigo answered. (Of course he's lying. A prince wouldn't dare to take part time job, right?). "But it's only for this week. I applied for a delivery boy in Ramen shop for one week because I'm getting ready for a special event later." He looked at Rukia and gave her a wink. He's referring their date as the special event.

"Ahhh…" Momo answered. "I thought you were a royalty."

He laughed. "Me? A Royalty? How come you said that? Hmm… Miss?"

"Hinamori. Hinamori Momo."

"I see. How come you said it, Hinamori-san?" Ichigo asked after biting a piece of French fries.

"Because, you gave Rukia-chan that necklace."

"Ah. About that?" Ichigo answered. "Since I don't have any presents for her on her birthday I decided to gave her that necklace. I'm wearing that necklace like forever."

"Sucka."

"…Hmn how did you get into the church?" Rangiku asked.

"Because…"

"He got lost." Rukia replied on behalf on him. "…And it happened that I'm there. Because of that we met."

"You got lost on that age, brother?" Ikaku asked.

"Funny, isn't it?" Ichigo answered. "But if that didn't happened I'm not here with you guys, right?"

"By the way we haven't known your surname yet. You are?" Toushiro asked.

Ichigo thought for a moment. "Shi---"

"Shi? Toushiro and the others said except Rukia.

"Shiba." Ichigo answered. "Shiba Kaien."

Silence.

"What's wrong, minna?" Ichigo asked after not getting a reply from them.

3

2

1

"Nothing." They replied.

He smiled. He's scared there for seconds thinking that one of Rukia's friends figured out that he's lying. Brushing those thoughts on his mind he stood up on his seat and tells them. "I'll just to the restroom for a while. Please excuse me." He is about to head towards the comfort room when he accidentally bumps his shoulder into a couple who was about to exit the restaurant. "Aw." Ichigo cried.

"I'm sorry." The guy told him.

"It's okay." Ichigo replied as he touched the affected area. He then looked at the guy facing him and his eyes widened like huge plates. He called. "Uuryu?"

The 4-eyed guy, with his girlfriend, shocked to see the person standing before him. "Your highness." Ishida called. "What are you doing here? Kenpachi-Sensei is looking for you."

Everyone on Rukia's table surprised on what they heard. "Your highness?" They asked in unison.

Ichigo looked at everyone's trouble expression especially on Rukia. "Ahaha!" He laughed as he crossed his arms on Ishida's shoulder. "Come on, Uuryu. Don't address me like that when we are not at school." He said once again as he puts his attention back to Rukia and the others. "You know guys? That's what my friends from our school used to call me since I'm the student council president. I don't want them to call me president but your highness. Ahaha. Cool, right? Besides they all said that I somehow resemble the image of the mighty Prince Ichigo Kurosaki." He lied. (_What a natural liar.)_

Silence.

Sweat starts to form on his forehead.

"Come to think of it." Rangiku said as she stared at him. "He resembles the prince in a way, right? The only thing that made them different is their hair."

"You think so?" Rukia replied.

Suddenly, Inoue Orihime, Ishida's girlfriend, joined the conversation and said. "What are you talking about? He's really the…" But Ishida covered his hands on Inoue's mouth to prevent her from speaking the truth.

"You've been talking a lot today, Inoue-chan." Uuryu said.

"Excuse me?" Inoue replied as she cocked an eyebrow on his boyfriend. "I only talked this time."

"Really?" Ishida said.

"By the way what are you two here?" Ichigo asked them.

"Today is my day-off." Ishida answered.

"Sucka." Ichigo then remembered his new friends. "By the way" He added as he faced them. "I want you two meet my best friend, Uuryu Ishida and his girlfriend, Inoue Orihime.

Rangiku and the others eventually introduced themselves to them too. "Sucka." Rukia added. "Nice meeting you two I'm Rukia. Kuchiki Rukia."

Uuryu looked at her. He stared at her for a moment and she noticed it too. "Anno…" Rukia told him. "Is there something on my face, Ishida-san?" She asked.

"Oh." The said guy startled. "Nothing. You're Rukia-chan?" He asked.

She nodded.

He smiled. "You're really beautiful as what the…." He paused for a while. _"Should I address him on his first name or what?"_ He thought about saying Ichigo's name. "…as what this guy said." He added pointing his finger to Ichigo.

"Kaien told you that?" Rukia asked.

"Kaien?" Inoue and Ishida asked. "Is that what he told you? His name is Kaien?"

"Yeah." Rukia replied. "Why? Is something wrong there?"

Ishida shook his head. "Nothing." He said. "By the way, I meant what I said a while ago. This guy really told that to me."

Rukia blushed.

"Uuryu." Ichigo called.

"Sorry." He laughed. "Hm… I think we have to get moving now." He added. "I have to take Inoue-chan at the Ikibukuro at 2. I really want to have chat with you guys again but I know we are going to meet soon, right Ms. Rukia?"

She smiled. "Yeah. I'm looking forward to that.

…

…

Ishida and Inoue went away. On their way Inoue asked. "Why is Prince Ichigo hiding his identity to his friends?"

"Maybe because he wants to protect that girl." Ishida replied.

"Who?" Inoue asked. "That Rukia girl?"

"Yeah. If the other kingdoms or the members of the Kurosaki family find out that he's seeing a commoner, Lady Rukia will be sure in danger and that will sure separates them. I guess Prince Ichigo is afraid of losing her."

"So he's in love with her?"

"I think so."

…

…

Meanwhile, back at Wcdo, after finishing 6 value meals that were all paid by Ichigo's money, Rangiku said. "We have to go now, Rukia. Ikaku and I have a remedial class at 3 this afternoon."

"Really?" Rukia asked.

"Me too." Toushiro said. "I have an errand to attend regarding my part time job."

"I'll come with you too, Shiro-chan." Momo said.

"I see." Rukia said.

"Thank you very much for the time and the food, Shiba-san." Momo told Ichigo.

"Not at all." Ichigo replied. "It's nothing. I'm glad that I got the chance to meet Rukia's friends."

"Next time let's hangout once again. Let's do triple date, okay?" Rangiku suggested.

"Sure." He replied.

"See you next time, guys." Rukia said as she bade goodbye to her friends. "I'll call you later."

"Ja ne!"

…

Rukia and Ichigo watched them as they stepped out on the exit. While alone together and sitting next to each others, Ichigo said. "You have good friends, you know?"

Rukia smiled. "I know. They are one of the most important persons to me."

"Am I included on that list now?" Ichigo asked.

Rukia looked at him and replied. "What do you think is my answer? Can you guess it?"

He stared back at Rukia and said. "Well… looking at your honest eyes I think its yes."

"If that's what you said then I guess it must be it."

They both stared at each other's once again and afterwards they laughed in unison. "Shall we go now?" Ichigo asked.

"Go where?" Rukia asked.

"To our date. You promised it to me, right? Our first real date"

"Silly. It's just a friendly date and it's my payment for the request I asked you."

"Whatever. It's still a date. Let's go." Ichigo said as he stood up on his seat. He then offered Rukia a hand and escorted her as they both go out of the restaurant.

"Where will you take me?" She asked.

"I have a friend working at the Balamb Garden and I got to borrow this from him." Ichigo said as she showed Rukia a key.

"The palace?" She asked in surprised. "Key? For what?"

"You'll find out soon." He placed a helmet on Rukia's head and helps her got on his bike. "Hold on me tightly, okay?" Ichigo said.

Rukia smiled. "So I'm going to hug you from behind, is that it?"

Ichigo looked at her through the bike's mirror. She is doing the same. "If it's okay to you." He answered.

Rukia then wrapped her arms on Ichigo's waist. She rested her face on her back and replied. "Don't ride too fast, okay?"

"Yeah." He started the engine and drives to the Karakura's palace- The Balamb Garden.

…

…

…

On the other hand at the palace, there's terrible news that the King and Queen have got. It's about Princess Tifa. It is said that she eloped with her boyfriend, Cloud Strife, after hearing the plan of being married to Prince Ichigo.

"The Nibelhiem Kingdom is saying their deepest apology, your highness." A royal guard said.

"It seems that even Princess Tifa is against political marriage." The Queen said.

"I think so."

"So what's going to happen to now?"

"We have to find another girl for Ichigo." The King suggested.

"But he's seeing someone now, right?" The Queen replied. "Two weeks ago you instructed her to find a girl of his fancy and he did find one. Let's tell him that we want to meet her."

Suddenly, Ishida entered the scene. He just returned back to the palace after his date with Inoue. "I'm back."

"Where's that damn prince of this palace?" The king asked.

"He still hasn't return?" Ishida asked.

"Will I asked you if he already did?"

Ishida smiled. "He's still with Lady Rukia I guess."

"Rukia?"

"Yeah. We bumped with them a while ago and I saw the girl that the prince was talking about before." Ishida explained.

"You saw the girl that Ichigo's seeing?"

Ishida nodded.

"So how does she look like?"

"She's really beautiful, Sire. She's like an angel disguised in human form. I didn't have the chance to know her that well because she's with her friends and there's also a fact that Prince Ichigo is hiding his identity to her."

"Ichigo did that? Why?" The queen asks, worriedly.

"My idea about that is because he's afraid that many members of the royal house would not approve their relationship besides Lady Rukia is not a royalty."

"What are we going to do now, Honey?" The Queen asked.

"I'll talk to Ichigo about this as soon as he came back.

…

…

…

Back to Rukia and Ichigo, the two already arrived at the back of the palace. Ichigo know all the secret passage here since he's living there. There's a hidden door hiding on the bushes of flowers that leads to the kingdom's garden.

"Wait!" Rukia said as she watched Ichigo inserting the key to the knob. "Are we going to infiltrate the palace?"

"Yeah."

"Come on, Kaien. Let's stop this." Rukia says, worriedly. "What if the guards caught us? It will be trouble."

"Don't worry." Ichigo said.

"Kaien."

"I can't bring you to heaven like you asked me last time but I can bring you to the palace. You said before you want to get inside of it, right?"

Rukia nodded. "But I'm scared."

Ichigo holds Rukia's hand. "I'm here so no need to be scared besides if anything happens I will protect you no matter what."

"You will do it?"

Ichigo smiled. "Yeah. After all I'm your prince, right?"

"You're my prince?" She asked. "Funny." Rukia gladly offered her hands on him and they both get inside the door. It's a long pathway but in the end a beautiful garden can be seen on it. Lots of flowers were planted on the ground and there were lots of trees that only wealthy family can afford to have on their garden. The scenery is so different on the garden of iris back at the church. "Kirei." Rukia said.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

"How did you know that there's a secret pathway that leads here?"

"Like I tell you a friend of mine is working as a guard here and when I asked him about this he didn't waste any thoughts and he lends me the key here. He told me also that there were no guards patrolling at this hour so it's safe."

Rukia looked at him.

"What?" He asked as they both seated on the ground.

"Nothing. You really are a mysterious guy."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know. It's just that I find you weird."

"Really?"

"…But you know? When I met you I feel that everything's changing. When I met you I get the chance to laugh again, smile and have fun or what."

"Why? Are you alone and sad before we met? You have your friends, right?"

"Well… I had a boyfriend before but he left me without a warning and I don't know where he is now."

Ichigo paused for a while. "So you were in a relationship before?"

Rukia nodded. "The two of us met when I was 14 years old but after a year of going steady I found out that he's already out of the country. Rangiku and the others told me that he runs away with another girl or what. He is my first boyfriend and my first love… so when he left I was really hurt at that time."

He bowed his head. "You know?" Ichigo said. "When people walk away from you let them go… Your destiny is never tied to anybody who leaves you and it doesn't mean they are bad people… It only means their part is over."

Silence.

"That's how I viewed things like that." He added. "Moving on isn't about never looking back. It's about taking a glance at yesterday and noticing how much you've grown since then."

"Really?"

"Anno.. Rukia."

"Yes?"

"Do you still love that guy?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Nothing."

"Are you jealous?" She asked. "Maybe not."

"What if I am?"

Rukia looked at him. "You are?"

He blushed.

"So you do." Rukia smiled.

"Urusai!"

She then rested her head on Ichigo's shoulder and hold his hand. "You know… hearing that you're jealous makes me happy."

Ichigo closes his hands into Rukia's and replied. "Why did you say so?"

Looking at the sky she replied. "I don't know myself. The only thing I know is that you came to me. That's all that matters to me now." She then stood up and added. "…Even though you're a weird guy." She starts running.

"Weird?" Ichigo asked. He stood on the ground and start chasing Rukia. "You!" He got her and starts tickling her waist. Rukia laughed. "Stop it, Kaien. It tickles me."

"I won't until you take back your words."

"Yamete!" Rukia shouted. "I won't take back what I said before because it's true." She then pushed Ichigo and they both landed on the ground. She's on top of him. Rukia picks up fallen petals and leaves on the ground and threw it right before Ichigo's face. "Weird guy."

Ichigo evades it.

Rukia then looked at him and he did the same. "I didn't know that your handsome in this close up. They are right. You really resemble the prince." Rukia said.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Then who's the most handsome, I or the prince?"

Rukia smiled. "Not answering."

Ichigo then changed their position by rolling Rukia safely to the ground. She's lying on the bed of roses with him on top of her. He plucked a rose on the bushes beside them. He removes several black strands covering her face and places it on Rukia's right ear. "So beautiful." He told her.

She blushed.

Ichigo, looking at Rukia, gently places his hand on her face. He touched her soft cheeks down to her red lips. "Can I?" He asked asking her permission to kiss it.

Rukia smiled. She wrapped her hands on Ichigo's neck pulling him close to her. She closes her eyes as Ichigo's lips coming to her and when their lips are about to touch someone shouted.

…

…

…**.**

"**HALT!"** The man shouted. It's one of the royal guards. Of course he may get the wrong idea on what those two were doing-- A guy lying on top of a girl trying to kiss each others. "What the hell are you trying to do in the kingdom's territory?" He asked. "Ordinary people are not allowed inside here so how did you two come inside?"

Other guards then came and asked. "What's wrong?"

"This couple infiltrated the palace and has no shame because they plan on doing their lovey-dovey here." The guard 1 replied.

""My! Teenagers today are really dangerous." The Royal guard 2 replied.

Ichigo and Rukia stood up. On the other hand, Rukia starts to get worried on what's going to happen to them. "Kaien." Rukia called.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." Ichigo said.

"Arrest them." The guard 3 said.

"Okay." The guard 1 and 2 replied. They charge towards them and Ichigo instructed Rukia to wait there for a moment as he finished the guards off. The three guys attacked at once. Ichigo did all he can to dodge their attacks and to protect Rukia. He charges first towards Guard 2 and Guard 3, punching them squarely in the stomach. They both drop to their knees, clutching their midsection. Then he feints to the left, heading on Guard 1's locations. He spins sharply to the right and gets inside his defense. In the blink of an eye Ichigo's fist is inches away from Guard 1's face then he surrendered. He was about to punch him once again for interrupting his moment with Rukia but didn't continue because Rukia called him.

"Kaien." She called.

He looked back to her only to see that Rukias been taken captive by another new comer guard.

"Stop it or I'll hurt your girlfriend." Guard #4 said.

"Let go of her!" Ichigo shouted. He charges towards guard #4 to rescue her but was caught by the three guards from before.

"Kaien!" Rukia called.

"Rukia!"

"We are going to bring you to jail while deciding for what punishment are suited for the two of you." Royal guard #4 told them. They dragged those two in different directions. Ichigo starts too worried on Rukia's condition. "Rukia" He called her as he watched her heading on the east part of the palace. Rukia looked back at him and whispered something. After realizing what is it. He smiled.

…

…

Soon the two ended up in jail. Rukia was put on the dark basement of the castle while Ichigo is freed because of Ishida's help. Ishida told the guards to release him and they found out that the guy they send in jail is the prince himself. After that, Ichigo summoned the four guards to teach them some lessons. He's angry--- really angry. He doesn't have any idea on what part of the palace is Rukia held captive. But he will do anything to find her after all; She whispered to him before she was taken away by the guards that

…_._

"_Whenever I'm in trouble, my prince will come and rescue me"_.

…

Soon after that, the four guards arrive.

…

_To be continued._

…

**Notes:**

My! Oh my! Ichigo and Rukia's date end up in a disaster, what do you think? Ahaha. And that old guard! Damn him for interrupting their first kiss! Arggg! But fear not my dear readers. I'll solve everything so relax. Wahaha!

Anyway, how do you find the third chapter? Do you like it? I hope so. Please leave reviews if you happened to read this story. I will appreciate it a lot even a single smiley of what so ever. Arigatou Gozaimasu. I'm now doing and editing the fourth chapter so it won't take time for me to update it. Look forward to it, okay?

hanks for spending some time reading this chapter. I appreciate it a lot. Until then. Later!

***Shachiecoh Hime***


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